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Starbucks Ends Link with NBA's Seattle SuperSonics
Starbucks, which has sponsored the Seattle SuperSonics since the 2001-02 season, has ended their relationship with the National Basketball Association team, a year after Starbucks Chair Howard Schultz sold the team, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Starbucks has also ended its sponsorship with Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners, and spokesperson Valerie O'Neil said the company is "moving away from sports sponsorships," although it will remain a sponsor of the WNBA Storm.
O'Neil added Starbucks' deal with the Sonics was "completely separate from [Schultz'] ownership of the team."
Photos by Matt A. Brown/Icon SMI (left) / Frances M. Roberts (right).
The Schultz-led Basketball Club of Seattle bought the Sonics and Storm for $200 million in 2001, and Starbucks' sponsorship amount "increased significantly" a year later. The annual payments "continued to rise" until 2006, when Schultz put the team up for sale.
Seattle-based Caffe Appassionato has gained the coffee pouring rights at KeyArena to go along with earlier deals at Qwest Field and its Events Center.
